Romeo and Juliet Had It Easy
by Q.S
Summary: Hermione is spending the summer with the Malfoys. Perfect. But during the course of the summer Juliet Malfoy has a genious idea. If Romeo and Juliet came from fighting sides and fell in love, why not Draco and Hermione? They just need a happier ending.
1. Chapter 1

Note: Sorry that this hasn't been updated! Instead of just jumping back in though, I'm gonna rewrite. I promise it won't be like rereading the same stuff over and over again but I understand if people don't want to read it. But, here we go again! P.S I have a Lucius/Narcissa story "Hearts of Stone" I'm working on that will have Juliet's mother and explain more about that.

Though she would never admit it, Hermione Granger was fully aware that she was genius. There had never been a book she couldn't read, regardless of age or content, had never been a math problem she couldn't solve given time, and there were very rarely to no times when she would find herself confused by what was going on around her. Sure, there were times at Hogwarts when she encountered something she did not know in the wizarding world but by the next day she probably knew more about it than most purebloods.

Unfortunately, her genius did come at a price. That price was social ability. She had never really had a boyfriend (Viktor had not been her boyfriend per say) and had never really had many friends. There were Harry and Ron of course, but that was it. She was extremely close to them, but fourth year had begun to complicate things. Harry had matured so much over that year because of the Triwizard Tournament and the boy Hermione had grown to love as her brother had begun to fade. And then there was Ron. She had liked him throughout all of her third year but when she started to like Viktor she realized that Ron, like Harry, was nothing more than her brother figure. But, being as smart as she was, Hermione could easily see that Ron still liked her. Voldemort's return had only made things so much worse. Almost immediately, Harry had been whisked off by Dumbledore and had not even taken the train home. That had left Hermione with Ron and Neville on the train ride home, which hadn't been so bad. It was when she got off the train and, instead of her parents greeting her, retired Professor Lupin had called her over.

Hermione had been getting the Muggle paper delivered to Hogwarts since her first year and had read about the fire in London. It had been so close to Voldemort's return that she had feared that the fire, which had taken out three buildings and two townhouses in downtown London, had been caused by Death Eaters but the _Daily Prophet _reported nothing.

It wasn't until Hermione got off the train and Lupin had called her over that the young Gryffindor realized something was wrong. It was with a gentle voice that the werewolf had been forced to break the news; the fire in London had taken out a small library. Not the main one but the one by Hermione's house. Hermione knew what had happened before Lupin finished speaking. Her parents always volunteered at the library. There was no need for her to be told to that they had been there when the fire started.

Hermione had returned to home with Lupin, who stayed with her for the next two weeks. He had helped her with funeral arraignments as well as all the paperwork. He had also called most of her wizarding friends to the funeral. All of the Weasleys, except Percy had come as well as many of her teachers. The only teacher missing was Professor Snape, who Dumbledore said was extremely busy. Apart from Snape, the only person missing was Harry. Dumbledore had avoided directly saying why Harry was missing, only giving vague answers. He had told Hermione that her summer house had been arraigned and he would pick her up the following Friday.

That Friday, Hermione was ready. She had taken everything she would ever need from the house and had cried all the tears that were in her body. When she opened the door to find Dumbledore and Snape standing there she looked completely composed.

"Hello, Professors," she greeted calmly.

"Hello, Hermione," returned Dumbledore. Snape merely nodded, which was as good as hello from him. With the composure of someone far older than herself, Hermione motioned the two in, asked them if they wanted water and politely invited them to sit.

"Hermione, once again I cannot say how sorry I am that all of this happened," Dumbledore said.

"Thank you," she muttered. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Though you are certainly not the first child I've seen to go through such tragedy." Dumbledore had continued, almost ignoring Hermione entirely. "There's Harry, of course. I know another young lady whose parents were brutally murdered when she was sixteen. Severus, himself was orphaned when he was thirteen."

"Oh?" Hermione could not keep her surprise at that one. The more she thought about, the more she realized she knew nothing about her Professor, other than his name and that he had once been a Death Eater.

"My father killed my mother before killing himself," Snape said flatly.

"That seems a fine note to leave on." As always with Dumbledore it was impossible to tell whether he was joking or serious. He did stand up however and asked for Hermione to get her bags.

He cast some spell on them to make them pocket sized and returned them to her before asking for her hand, telling her they were to Apparate to her new house. She did so with only a quick look at the home of her childhood.

In the next second she found herself standing a beautiful front lawn that had to have been the size of her street back home. Not only that but she could have sworn she saw a peacock before she turned around to look at the actual house.

It was without a doubt the most beautiful house she'd ever seen. At least as large as Hogwarts itself it was a traditional English manor that she would have expected royalty to live in. One thing was for certain; it was not the Burrow which was where she had been expecting to stay.

"Where are we?" she finally asked. She thought she saw Snape smile at her confusion but as quickly as it was there it was gone. Dumbledore certainly did however.

"You'll see. You thought you were staying at the Burrow, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes. Are the Weasleys here?" she asked hopefully.

"That would not go over well," Snape muttered. Dumbledore almost seemed ready to laugh but did not.

"No. The Weasleys are staying with a relative. Due to the help you that you and Ronald have given Harry we believe Voldemort may single you two out. I am not trying to scare you but I feel you should know the truth. We decided that it would be best that you two were somewhere less obvious than the Burrow," Dumbledore told her.

"Oh. Is Harry going to be here?"

That time Snape let out a full laugh. It scared Hermione for a second because of how full it was and how…..uncreepy it sounded.

"No, Harry is not going to be here. We thought it best he be on his own for a while. Severus, are you going to be alright?" When Snape had continued to laugh Dumbledore had turned to him and actually looked rather concerned the Potions teacher would hurt himself. Snape quieted immediately and returned to the same stoic man Hermione had for the past four years. "What time is it?"

"3: 47." Snape answered without even looking at a watch but Dumbledore took the answer as correct.

"I'm surprised at how quiet the house is," Dumbledore muttered. "Let's go."

Snape seemed far more familiar with house from the lazy way he walked up to the door and simply gave it one hard pound for a knock. It was only a second after that, before there had been any noise from inside, that he turned back to Dumbledore.

"They're out back, I can hear them," he told Dumbledore. The Headmaster nodded before making the trip around back to reveal the most beautiful garden, complete with a gazebo and its own lake. The only thing that wrecked the idle scene was the music blasting from the gazebo itself.

"Turn that down!"

Hermione hadn't seen the young girl that was swimming in the lake until she popped out from the water. When she did emerge Hermione was certain that she was looking at the most beautiful girl in the world. Thick black hair that had swirled around her, tan skin that had to have been golden it was so perfect and dark black eyes that looked extremely familiar. What was even more familiar however was the voice that Hermione heard next.

"Make me."

Dumbledore started laughing before Hermione had turned to face him with the look of utter shock on her face.

"Yes, Miss Granger. That is who you think it is," he told her. "He's on the gazebo."

And there he was. Lounging on a chair on the gazebo, he looked far more at ease than Hermione had seen him at school. A white tee-shirt and dark jeans only accented how pale he was and made him look almost inhuman. His hair was blonder than ever before, probably from being in the sun during the summer months. The most shocking thing was that he was laughing, something she had not seen him do in four years at Hogwarts.

"Fine then, at least change the—what the hell?" the girl had begun to pull herself out of the lake and had seen Hermione and the Professors. "Hello, Professors. Who are you?"

"What?" Draco, who had his back to his guests, had to turn around and strain his neck over the chair but when he saw who was there his eyes narrowed into the stormy slits that had glared at Hermione for her entire Hogwarts career. "Professors. What the hell are you doing here?" he asked Hermione, swaggering over to where she was standing.

"Draco, I'm fairly certain that neither of you parents would like you being so rude to your guest." Dumbledore kept his voice as gentle as ever but everyone heard the underlying warning beneath it. "Juliet, it's lovely to see you again."

"Nice to see you too, Professor. And I just figured out who you are," Juliet, the girl at Draco's side, had turned back to Hermione and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're Hermione Granger."

"Yes. And you are?"

"Juliet Malfoy. I'm his cousin," she added with a point to Draco. "_She'_s staying with us for the summer?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered. "Draco, where are you parents?"

"They went out," he muttered. Hermione had only seen expressions on Draco before; anger and smugness. To see him with his head bowed and looking slightly embarrassed at the entire scene. "They didn't say when they would be back."

"They're here," Snape said suddenly. He was smiling slightly.

"Do you simply know this or can you hear them?" asked Dumbledore.

"I can hear them. Can't you?"

_The Beast and the Harlot.  
She's a dwelling place for demons.  
She's a cage for every unclean spirit,  
every filthy bird and makes us drink  
the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.  
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.*_

"Hey, Draco?" asked Juliet as the music grew louder. "Weren't we supposed to something before Lucius and Narcissa got home?"

"Yeah. We were supposed to clean—"

"—oh, shit." Draco and Juliet spoke the last part in unison and exchanged the exact same look of slight panic. With impressive speed the two took of toward the house, practically stumbling over themselves to get inside.

"It seems that they have both inherited the speed of the Malfoys," Dumbledore laughed. "Come."

Snape led the way into the house with Dumbledore at his side and Hermione behind them. She was extremely confused, not only by the fact she was staying with the Malfoys (which meant Dumbledore trusted them) but also by the revelation of the true Malfoy family.

Inside Malfoy Manor was even grander than Hogwarts itself. The entrance hall alone was the size of five rooms in Hermione's old townhouse and decorated with hundreds of beautiful paintings. They were all wizarding paintings meaning they did move but that was not what caught Hermione's attention. It was the grand marble staircase, complete with long silver carpet. It looked like something that you would find a princess movie, not in someone's house.

"Next time, we should make it easier on both of us and let me drive."

"Darling, last time you drove you nearly drove into the house."

"That's because the last time I drove, I was trying to get to the house before you were arrested!"

"You almost hit the house."

"I made it. Hello, Professor Dumbledore."

The two voices had begun arguing outside the house and Hermione was shocked how easy it was to hear them. The argument seemed playful however and the smiles the couple was wearing when they entered only confused Hermione that much more.

She had seen Lucius Malfoy before, but never like this. Not only was he laughing but he was not dressed in his typical layers of rich black velvet. He was still wearing rich looking black fabric, but the short shirt looked silk rather than velvet. Also, there was no cane and he was carrying several boxes.

Next to him was the woman who had almost driven a car into Malfoy Manor, Narcissa Malfoy. Hermione had believed Juliet to be beautiful but Narcissa blew her niece out of the water. Her hair was so blonde that it was silver and her skin so white that it shimmered. A loose knee-length green skirt, green tank-top and a very, _very_ large diamond pendant made her look that much more beautiful because of how simple her outfit was. She, like her husband of nearly twenty years (the two had married very young), was carrying a pile of boxes but she dropped them when she saw Dumbledore.

"Hello, Narcissa," Dumbledore returned. "Lucius."

"Hello." Lucius dropped the boxes as his wife had done but was facing Snape. "What's up, Sev?"

"What the hell are all those?" asked the Potions teacher, ignoring Lucius's question. Hermione was struck by the familiarity between the two and how at the sight of the Malfoy's, Snape had immediately eased up.

"Boxes from the headquarters. Sirius found some of our old things and some things from Lily and James he thought we would want," Narcissa explained.

"Lily and James Potter?" Hermione couldn't remain quiet after hearing that and it was only then that the two Malfoys seemed to notice her.

"You must be Hermione," Narcissa smiled. "Hello. I'm sorry about your parents, dear. Speaking of children. DRACO-LUCIUS AND JULIET, IF YOUR ROOMS AREN'T CLEAN THERE IS GOING TO BE HELL TO PAY!"

Narcissa was such a slight looking woman that the volume of her voice seemed like it had come from an entirely different person. Once done with her threat she smiled at Hermione with more caring than the Gryffindor would have thought possible of a Malfoy.

"I'm going to see how the demons are doing," she explained as she made her way up the stairs. "Lucius, can you get Hermione set up?"

"Sure. Which room?" he asked.

"The guest room. Idiot." Narcissa was getting further up the stairs and had to raise her voice louder and louder but Lucius was laughing.

"Which guest room, love?"

"I don't care! There's at least five!"

"You're going to have a very interesting, summer, Miss Granger," laughed Dumbledore.

A loud _crash _from upstairs and the sound of Juliet and Draco swearing only confirmed what Hermione had been thinking. _Interesting _was not the word she would have chosen.


	2. Chapter 2

"Follow me," Lucius told Hermione. "Do you have your bags?"

Hermione nodded, pulling the pocket sized bags out of her pocket. Lucius took them and turned to Snape suddenly.

"Guess what?"

"No," Snape answered immediately. "I'm not playing this game."

"Then I'm not telling you," Lucius shrugged.

"Fine." Snape did not seem phased but less than two seconds passed before Lucius spoke. "They're doing a _Jekyll and Hyde _musical," said Malfoy.

"Really?" That seemed to amuse Snape because a small smile had come to his face. "That could be---"

"—absolute and utter shit," Narcissa said. No one had seen her come down the stairs until she was back at her husband's side. "Or it could be good. Do you want to go when it opens?"

"Maybe," Snape answered.

"Oh!" gasped Narcissa suddenly, turning to face Lucius and giving him a light hit on the shoulder as she did so. "Take this. Juliet is not to have her phone until I say so and Draco is not to go in the music room."

"Why not?" Lucius asked, taking the phone his wife was holding out.

"When I got upstairs they were fighting. And neither of them had cleaned," she explained.

"Fighting over what?" asked Lucius.

"Something ridiculous, I'm sure," she said with a sighed. "Sound familiar?" she added teasingly.

"I never fought with Medusa," Lucius argued. Snape and Narcissa both laughed at that, making Lucius angry. "I _rarely _fought with Medusa."

"Right," Narcissa laughed, sharing a knowing glance with Snape. "And I never fought with Bella."

"You attacked Bella at our wedding," Lucius reminded.

"I won," Narcissa shrugged off.

"As interesting as the story is, we have to go," Dumbledore interrupted. "Severus and I have something to do. I will see you at the meeting?"

"Of course," nodded Lucius. "Sev, are you coming by tonight?"

"Probably," Snape said. There was no goodbye, the two professors simply left and Narcissa turned to Hermione.

"I'm sure you're confused dear, but you'll get used to it. We never know what's going on," she said. "Lucius, take her to the guest room."

"Which one?" he asked, the same question he'd asked earlier.

"The one next to Juliet's room," Narcissa decided.

"Still smells like smoke from Juliet's little experiment," Lucius reminded.

"The one next to Draco's room then," Narcissa sighed. "I'm going to get dinner." She walked away, leaving the boxes where they were on the ground.

"Have you eaten yet?" Lucius asked Hermione. She shook her head; she was slightly apprehensive about being alone with Lucius. He had taunted her before and the rumors of his treatment Muggle-borns were enough to keep her on edge. "I'm sorry then. I wouldn't advise eating Narcissa's food however. You're better off sneaking food later. I'll have Juliet show you the kitchen."

"Thank you," she muttered. Lucius had begun to walk up the stairs, chatting casually with Hermione as he did so. When they got to the stairs, the casualness dropped as they found Draco and Juliet in the hall.

"You started it!" Juliet was shouting. They were on opposite sides of the hall, both standing in front of their rooms. "I was minding my own—"

"—bullshit!" interrupted Draco. "You were being the same little bitch you always are!"

"Who are you calling a little bitch?" laughed Juliet. "Self-absorbed asshole."

"This is coming from the girl who spends three hours looking at the mirror every morning," Draco snorted. "And you're calling me self-absorbed?"

"Hell yeah," she shot back. "At least I'm not so self-absorbed I can make friends. And thanks to your little stunt, I can't talk to my friends because you got my phone taken away!"  
"I'm locked out of the music room because of you!" shouted Draco. He had inherited the same loud voice that his mother had used and it was rather scary to see it come from him. "I was actually working on something!"

"You have been working on the same song for three months. And guess what? IT STILL SUCKS!" Juliet screamed. That made Draco snap. He lunged for Juliet but Lucius yelled before he did more than tackle his cousin.

"MALFOYS, STAND DOWN!"

The reaction was automatic; Draco jumped away from Juliet and she in turn snapped to her feet.

"Your rooms, now," Lucius ordered.

"But—"

"—now!"

When they realized that Lucius was actually angry the two bolted back to their rooms. Once the simultaneous sound of their doors slamming Lucius turned back to Hermione.

"Juliet's been living with since she was born. Her mother, my sister, was killed shortly after Medusa was born and she's been here ever since. She and Draco are like siblings but that does not mean they get along. Here, this is your room," Lucius told her he opened the door. He put her bags on the floor before restoring them to their regular size. "One of us will come get you for dinner. If you want to be alone I understand but I would suggest you have Juliet give you a tour of the house." He gave her a nod as well as a sad little smile before shutting the door and heading across the hall to Juliet's room.

He wasn't surprised when he found Juliet standing in front of her easel. Like her parents, Juliet was a visual person and was constantly drawing or painting. Her easel, her most prized possession was in the middle of her room with her back go Lucius.

"What are you drawing?" Lucius asked her. Like her mother had, Juliet loved to do her work with music and had to shut off what she was listening to when Lucius spoke.

"Not sure," she answered truthfully. "I think it's a snake. What's up?"

"Why were you and Draco fighting?" He didn't have to waste his time being blunt. Juliet's unknown father was always blunt and it was a trait Juliet had picked up. With a deep breath, Juliet threw her pencil against the easel and turned to face Lucius.

"So I was asking Draco about Hermione because she's staying with us, so I should be able to know something about her, right? So he was getting his typical emo self and just telling me to shut up and leave me alone. He hates her, he doesn't know anything about her, this sucks, why is she staying here, blah blah. So I said maybe you'll get a chance to you know actually make a friend for once in your pathetic life and he _flips out. _Goes absolutely nuts and keeps tells me that at least he doesn't have to fake to make friends. So—"

"—I think I get it, Juliet," interrupted Lucius. He knew his "children" well enough to see where the story was going. "Are you going to apologize?"

"Hell no," Juliet snapped. Lucius said nothing, instead fixing with an expectant face. "Fine. He should apologize to me."

"And he will," Lucius told her. "How many times have we told you not to say things like that?"

"It's not my fault he has no friends!" Juliet argued. "I know, I know. He's a Malfoy so everyone's afraid of him and it's not his fault it's the family name, all that shit—"

"—language, Juliet—"

"—sorry, but he could so have made friends even so. He likes being the emo wonder boy," Juliet finished

"I'm going to go talk to him," Lucius said. "Especially with Hermione here, you cannot be starting fights so often. Her parents just died in the fire in London. She needs some peace right now."

"Oh my god. Yeah, of course." Juliet Malfoy was several things but stupid was not one of them. "Wow."

Lucius left Juliet to herself, heading straight across the hall to his son's room.

The first thing Lucius noticed was the silence. He very rarely walked into Draco's room without hearing music or Draco singing but his guitar had been locked in the music room. Instead, Draco was lying on his bed with his orb floating in a tiny circle around him. Draco had changed the orb so rather than playing his music aloud it only played to him, like an invisible ear bud. He was reading too, which didn't surprise Lucius.

"Draco," Lucius yelled. Draco looked up, waving his hand to stop the music his orb was playing. "What are you listening to?"

"_Faint," _Draco answered with a smile. Lucius just sighed. Several years ago he had accidently given Draco a cd of music that he and Snape had made in Hogwarts. It turned out that Draco absolutely loved it and more often that not, was listening to either a song Lucius had written or a song Snape had written. Lucius thought it was a little odd but it was nice to have someone (other than Narcissa) listen to his music. "What's up?"

"You were fighting with Juliet again," Lucius said. Draco opened his mouth to argue but his father raised his hand. "I heard the story. I don't care what she said, that does not give the right to say something back."

"Tell her to leave me the hell alone!" Draco pleaded.

"Language. She won't stop unless you stop," Lucius told him. "That's not the big problem right now. Hermione's staying with us for the summer. You—"

"—why is she here?" Draco demanded.

"Her parents died in the London fire," Lucius explained. That shut Draco up for a second; he may have hated the girl but he wouldn't have wanted anything quite so horrible to have happened to her.

"So why is she here? Shouldn't she be with the Weasleys or with Potter?" Draco asked.

"Dumbledore thought she would want some privacy," Lucius lied. He knew the truth; that Dumbledore thought it was too dangerous for anyone other than the adults to be around Harry Potter at the moment. "And we offered the house. You don't have to like her. Just leave her be."

"Fine by me," Draco assured his father.

"Good." Lucius turned to leave but just as his hand rested on the doorknob Draco called for him.

"Hey, can I—"

"—you are not allowed in the music room until you apologize to Juliet or until your mother says so," Lucius said. Before Draco could argue Lucius left.

Narcissa was still in the kitchen when he got there, singing to herself as she attempted to make….something. She was so absorbed in that she didn't realize that Lucius was there until she felt familiar cold hands wrap their way around her waist.

"How are the demons?" she asked with a smile.

"Good. I found out what they were fighting about," Lucius breathed into her ear.

"Now what?"

"Juliet made another crack about him being friendless. He insulted her back," Lucius said.

"The same as always," Narcissa sighed. "Did you talk to them about Hermione?"

"Yes. That doesn't mean they'll listen," Lucius reminded Narcissa.

"Well, let's find out. DINNERTIME!"

"Darling, please don't shout when I'm next to you."


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione was lying facedown on her new bed when she heard Narcissa yell from below. She was not quite yet crying but close to it. This was miserable; her parents were gone, she was separated from everyone she loved and not only that, she was staying with the person she hated most in the world. There was no contest. She hated Draco more than anyone in the world, even Voldemort. She knew this was horrible of her but she had never actually confronted Voldemort; she had fought with Draco several times and her hatred for him was far more pronounced. And she was staying not only with him but with a man who she believed wanted her dead.

The knock on her door roused Hermione from her thoughts. She jumped up quickly, only stopping to make sure there were no tears stains on her face and answered it to find Juliet bouncing from foot to foot.

"Hey. Didn't know if you heard but its dinner time," she said.

"I heard—"

"—shh!" Juliet hissed suddenly. She all but shoved Hermione back into her room, Juliet following her. For a second the two hid behind the partially open door in silence. Juliet didn't move until Draco's door opened and he walked right by them, completely oblivious. Once he was past them Juliet ran out from her hiding spot.

"Malfoy Death Attack!" she screamed, tackling Draco as she did so. He barely had time to yell out "holy shit!" before he rolled to the ground. It looked like the two were headed down the stairwell but Draco suddenly reached out his hand and wrapped it around the banister. Juliet had already jumped off of him, leaving her cousin hanging down the stairwell with his hand holding him up.

"Juliet!" he screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're reflexes are good, you weren't gonna hurt yourself," she said. "Stop being a drama queen. Do you want help?" she asked, going forward to offer him a hand. With a speed that impressed Hermione he swung himself up and back to his feet, giving Juliet the same disgusted glare he often gave Hermione.

"Leave me alone," he snapped. "I'm not in the mood for you shit."

"Emo," Juliet sang as he took off down the stairs. It wasn't until he was gone that Hermione came out from her room. Juliet flashed a smile, confirming Hermione's idea that this girl was absolutely insane. "Come, it's dinnertime."

Hermione followed Juliet in silence. Considering how grand the house was, Hermione was surprised when she was led into a very small dining room that only held five chairs. Draco and Lucius were already sitting when Hermione and Juliet entered. Juliet motioned for Hermione to sit next to her, directly across from Draco. To his credit, he only gave Hermione a sharp glare before turning his attention back to his father. Lucius, for his part, had his feet propped on the table as he leaned backwards to attempt to see into the kitchen.

"I can't tell," he said.

"That's not a good sign," Juliet said. "Can you smell it?"

"No. That's even worse," Lucius sighed. "Who's going to try it first?"

"No!"

"No!"

"No-damnit." Draco was the last of the three Malfoys to shout no and slammed his fist onto the table in a manner strongly resembling a punished five year old.

"Mature," Juliet laughed.

"Why is Draco banging his fist on the table?" asked Narcissa as she swept into the room. She had a large bowl of pasta in her hands, which she set on the table with a flourish. "Never mind, I don't care."

Hermione, even after the time she had spent at the Burrow, was still unused to the wizarding world. That was why when bowls, knifes and forks came flying out of the kitchen she almost yelled, especially when a bowl landed in front of her.

"Do you like pasta, love?"

Hermione had been so distracted by the flying silverware that she hadn't noticed Narcissa talking to her. When she did look at the Malfoy wife she found an infectious and loving smile staring down at her.

"Yes," she said quietly. She had just become aware that all of the Malfoys were staring at her and she could feel herself blushing under their gaze.

"Oh, Jesus Hell," muttered Lucius suddenly. From one of his pockets he pulled out Juliet's phone, which was playing a song very loudly. "Juliet, someone is texting you."

"Oh god, who?" she asked eagerly, leaning across the table for the phone. Lucius easily moved it out of her grasp before she could touch it.

"Miranda," he read. "Who the hell is Miranda?"

"My best friend. Can I have it?" she pleaded.

"No," answered Narcissa. She was scooping out pasta as she spoke, putting generous amounts on everyone's plates. "You're not allowed to have your phone."

"It's important!" Juliet argued.

"Doubt it," snorted Draco.

"Shut up. Please," she begged. Draco was only important enough to get a few seconds of her attention before she turned back to Narcissa.

"No. What do people want for drinks?" asked Narcissa as she made her way back to the kitchen. As soon as the three Malfoys had yelled their demands and Narcissa was out of earshot Juliet turned to Lucius.

"Please?" It seemed that Juliet's wide black eyes had no effect on Narcissa but on Lucius they worked; he immediately handed the phone over. "Thank you."

"Hermione, did you—Juliet, give me the phone!" Juliet had no more time than to open the text then Narcissa had walked back in and seen her niece. "Now!"

"Fine." With a delicate pout, Juliet handed the phone over while Narcissa began to set drinks on the table. "Hermione, did you want anything?"

"No, thank you," she muttered. After Narcissa sat down there was a minute or so of awkward silence until Narcissa, slipping into a manner embedded in her head as a child, politely attempted a conversation.

"Hermione dear, what do you usually do during the summers?" she asked.

"Well, I usually just stay at home," she answered. All four Malfoys were staring at her with faces varying from interest and kindness to a condescending boredom. "Though for the last week or so I stay with the Weasleys."

"How the hell do they fit more people in that house?" laughed Lucius. "Damn thing looks like it's about to fall apart."

"When where you are the Burrow?" asked Hermione automatically.

"You haven't figured it out yet, have you?" Narcissa's tone was so sweet and sympathetic that it was almost syrupy but there was just enough sincerity in it to make it less nauseating. "We work for the Order of the Phoenix. Some of our closest friends are the Weasleys. Before the Potters died they were our closet friends."

"What about me?"

"Sev, if you don't start knocking I'll friggen kill you!" screamed Lucius. Rather than being surprised that the Potions teacher had simply walked into the house and intruding on the conversation, he seemed simply annoyed.

"You don't count anymore," Narcissa waved off. "Want some pasta?"

"Did you make it?" he asked. When Narcissa nodded he shook his head. "I've just avoided death, I would rather not tempt Fate twice today."

"Are you serious?" asked Lucius. While he still had that lax tone at discussing his friend's possible near death, Narcissa's eyes had gone wide and the three children leaned forward in their seats.

"Unless I have suddenly developed a sense of humor I am unaware of yes," he answered. "Unfortunately, I have worse news."

"That you lived?" Lucius snorted but even he was looking at Snape with concern.

"There are orders being placed to rebuild the fortress."

There was a silence after this and that disturbed Hermione more than what Snape had said. She had no idea what the fortress was and judging by the blank look Juliet and Draco shared, neither did they. Lucius however stared at Snape like he had been informed Jesus had returned to earth while Narcissa looked on the verge of tears.

"Already?" she finally choked out. "Not so soon."

"He wants it ready by the start of the Hogwarts year," Snape said promptly, crushing all hope that had rested in Narcissa's voice. "Which means—"

"—he's expecting enough followers to need it soon," finished Lucius. "Shit."

"No!" cried Narcissa. "We burned it! I was there, we burned it down!"

"And he's rebuilding it," Snape said. "I'm going to tell the others tonight."

"Does anyone else know?" asked Lucius.

"No. I believe I'm the only one," Snape answered. "Which means he's not confident enough to inform the others yet."

"You're talking about Voldemort, right?" asked Juliet suddenly. "What's the fortress?"

"Why don't you three go upstairs?" suggested Narcissa tensely. The suggestive words were backed up by a command in her voice but no one moved.

"The fortress was Voldemort's lair," Snape answered after a silence. "The three of us burned it down after he fell but he wants it rebuilt."

"Sev!" roared Lucius. It was the first time Hermione had seen actual anger in Lucius and it was the most disturbing thing she had seen in her time there. "My house, my rules!"

"They have a right to know," shrugged Snape. "They asked."  
"My house, my rules," repeated Lucius. "The first rule is still to keep my children away from that world."

"They live in that world now," Snape muttered.

"Upstairs, now!"

Narcissa addressed the three teens before Lucius could snap something to Snape again. This time, there was no argument.

Hermione was about to go back to her room when Juliet grabbed her hand and pulled her into Draco's room. Honestly, she shouldn't have been surprised what she saw when the lights turned on and the door was shut. The room was the only colors she had even seen Draco wear; silver and black. Silver walls emphasized just how large the room was while the black curtains and huge black bed emphasized how little furniture there was. A bed in the center, a large dresser to one side, a desk to another and a window taking up an entire wall were the only things in the room. Excluding Draco himself, lying on his back when he heard the door shut.

"I have no idea," he said immediately. He was talking to Juliet, who had already hopped onto the bed to speak. "I've never heard them say anything about it."

"Well, I'm not surprised," Juliet muttered. "They never say anything if they can help it. Any thoughts?"  
When Juliet turned to Hermione she could say nothing. Not only did she have no idea what the hell was going on but her eyes had been drawn to the four or five books scattered across Draco's bed. One of them was a notebook but she also saw _Hamlet, Julius Caesar _and_ Macbeth. _

"I'm sorry what?" Hermione finally asked.

"About the fortress," explained the Malfoy girl. "Here, come sit."

After Draco made no protest, Hermione sat on the bed tentatively. She was surprised at how incredibly soft it was. Malfoy was not a soft person and she would not have expected such comfort from him.

"Whenever something like that happens Draco and I come up here to analyze. They try not to tell us jack shit if they can help it so we're left to ourselves," Juliet explained. "The fortress is new, but it doesn't surprise me. I'd never really thought about where Voldemort lived."

"Hell," answered Draco immediately. As he was lying down he could not see Hermione on his bed but he had felt the dip in the mattress when another body was added and felt his own tense up.

"Not yet," Juliet snapped back with a smile. "If Voldemort's building the fortress—why are you looking at me like that?"Juliet had the odd ability to interrupt her own sentence, now staring at Hermione.

"You used his name," Hermione pointed out. "Only Harry and Dumbledore do that."

"Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," Draco said lazily. Hermione's jaw actually fell open; had she ever said that in front of him.

"Everything about a villain is based on their image," Juliet agreed. "Same for the hero. No one is going to be afraid of Tom Riddle. Likewise, no one is going to trust Draco Malfoy."

"Was I just called the villain?" Draco asked but he did not seem to care.

"No. But you're not the hero," Juliet pointed out. "No offense, dear cousin but you've got to much dark in you to be a hero."

"_And thus I clothe my naked villainy/With odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ/  
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil_," Draco sighed.

"If you're quoting Shakespeare, I'm outta here," Juliet said. "Hermione, you can come with me. I just wanted to see if you had anything to add."

"I think I'm going to go back to my own room," Hermione said, following Juliet's example of getting up and walking towards the door. "Malfoy?" she said, just before leaving. She ignored how Juliet stopped to turn around and listen and how Draco fixed her with that same icy stare he always had. "Richard III is not the best to use when pointing out that you're not the villain." She could never resist proving him wrong and never would.

"He wasn't the villain," Draco argued. She was surprised to find that he actually sat up and the ice in his eyes ad melting. "He was determined but not pure evil. He felt regret."

"_O coward conscious, how thou dost afflict me_?" laughed Hermione. "Hardly regret."

"Hardly or not, showing any means he's not the villain. Any emotion cancels out the act of evil," Draco pointed out.

"Well, I'm not surprised that you're definition of evil is different from mine," Hermione said. With that she left, leaving Draco not only pissed at her parting comment but also confused and Juliet standing in the hallway, try to piece together the only Shakespeare piece she had ever learned.

_Two households both alike in dignity….._

_Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean_

_From forth the loins of these two foes_

_A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life._

_We're gonna need to change that line,_ Juliet told herself before slipping back to her room.


End file.
